Suffolk Cuts $400,000 From Marine Project

By JOHN RATHER

Published: December 2, 2001

AMID the tax increases and spending cuts of a hard budget year for Suffolk County, a reduction of nearly $400,000 for a highly regarded marine program operated by the Cornell Cooperative Extension hardly stood out.

But as the dust began to settle last week after the deliberations that produced what some Suffolk officials are calling a wartime budget for next year, the Cornell program was being recognized as a major casualty.

Its fate signals the difficult road ahead for groups and agencies that depend on county money at a time when slumping sales-tax revenues, a slowing economy and uncertainties after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are taking their toll.

The Cornell program, an educational and research effort that began 13 years ago, operates a marine center at Cedar Beach in Southold, an education center in Riverhead and a recently opened branch at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport. Thousands of volunteers and schoolchildren, as well as local governments, marine businesses and baymen, take part in its projects to preserve and restore shorelines and coastal waters.

Those projects range from seeding bays with scallops to growing eelgrass in a nursery for eventual planting and creating local fishing jobs.

Under the new budget, the county cut its contribution to the marine program to zero. The county's contribution had accounted for about a third of the program's annual funding.

The program's staff members, some of whom have worked in local waters for more than 20 years, secure government grants and private financing for projects that currently employ about 40 people. Program administrators estimate that the projects bring in $3 million a year in revenues.

Now, the marine program must find new financing or close its doors. ''We took a huge hit,'' said Christopher Smith, a marine scientist who is the program's director. ''We are scrambling for survival, for sure.''

The Suffolk cooperative extension, a nonprofit educational and research agency in Riverhead with close ties to Cornell University, depended on the county for about 43 percent of its annual budget last year, or about $3 million of $7.2 million.

The county also cut $278,000 for another extension program, one for diabetes education that the extension runs under contract with the Suffolk Health Department. The program offers diabetes management and weight-control counseling at county health centers. Judi Veeck, an extension spokeswoman, said that the program was within a year of gaining formal recognition from the American Diabetes Association, which would make it eligible for federal reimbursements.

The cooperative extension cuts, which total nearly $678,000, were the largest for any agency holding county contracts, officials said.

The extension's board of directors said in a statement that it ''realizes the difficult situation faced by our county and appreciates the effort that went into preparing this budget.'' ''What is being proprosed as a savings to taxpayers will ultimately cost us all far more,'' they added.

The directors and other extension officials said they did not know why the county cuts fell so heavily on their programs. ''I still haven't figured that one out yet,'' Mr. Smith said.

Some county legislators said that the cuts might have reflected disagreements between Michael J. Caracciolo, a Republican from Wading River in whose district the extension headquarters is situated, and other legislators on the special committee that negotiated the final 2002 county budget. The committee, created by Paul Tonna, the County Legislature's presiding officer, a Republican from Huntington, agreed with Robert J. Gaffney, the county executive, on a 13 percent rise in property taxes and $10 million in new fees.

The adopted budget had to make up for a potential $37.7 million shortfall after legislators rejected Mr. Gaffney's tobacco settlement securitization proposal and declined to eliminate the sales tax exemption on clothing and shoes costing less than $110.

It also increased from 1 percent to 2.5 percent a tax on home heating oil, natural gas and residential electric bills. The increase on electric bills will bring in an estimated $8.4 million, but the Long Island Power Authority is protesting the tax increase and has asked for a rollback.

The marine and diabetes program cuts were among about $21 million in program and service reductions the legislators ordered.

Under an informal arrangement, legislators who agreed to vote for the final budget were each allowed $200,000 to restore programs or services in their districts. Mr. Caracciolo and three other legislators who voted against the budget were excluded and got nothing.

Mr. Caracciolo said last week that the cuts in the extension programs were in line with other budget reductions and were not a punishment for his opposition. But, he added, ''I would be dishonest to say the thought didn't cross my mind.''

Maxine Postal, a Democrat from Amityville who sat on the special budget committee, defended the $200,000 awards. ''We had to make some very tough decisions, and we decided that each of the legislators willing to vote for the budget would be able to restore some programs to the tune of $200,000,'' Ms. Postal said. ''If you are not willing to vote for the budget, should you have the ability to spend money?''

It was not clear whether Mr. Caracciolo would have been able to restore financing for the extension programs even if he had supported the budget.

Mr. Caracciolo said he opposed the budget because it relied too heavily on raising fees, taxes and revenues rather than on what he called reasonable spending cuts. He called the electric tax ''a sneak attack'' that should have been discussed publicly before being included in the budget.

Other officials said the budget deliberations were remarkable for the high level of cooperation among officials confronting suddenly changing economic conditions.

''In my 25 years in government, this was by far and away the most difficult budget to deal with,'' said Paul Sabatino, the counsel to the County Legislature. ''I called it a war budget. There were no easy choices.''

Mr. Sabatino said cuts in the Cornell marine and diabetes programs were ''a question of prioritization'' and no reflection on programs' quality. ''We were cutting or partially cutting and raising fees, and every decision was really a horrible choice,'' he added.

Mr. Smith, the marine program's director, said that operations would probably cease within three to four months unless financing was found elsewhere or restored by the county.

''I have got to believe that once people understand how deeply we are woven into the fabric of Suffolk County, they will at least stop and reconsider the magnitude of these cuts,'' he said.

Photos: Stacy Myers, an educator, at the Marine Environmental Center.; Gary Crowther, a participant in a community-based shellfish restoration effort, placing oysters into the water, where they will survive the winter. (Photographs by Deirdre Brennan for The New York Times)